40 DAYS FOR LIFE This fall, from September 23rd thru November 1st, Los Angeles will be one of more than 170 cities in 45 states joining together for the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history -- the 40 Days for Life campaign. 40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life effort that consists of:

40 days of prayer and fasting

40 days of peaceful vigil & prayer walk

40 days of community outreach

We are praying that, with God's help, this groundbreaking effort will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in our city -- and throughout America. While all aspects of 40 Days for Life are crucial in our effort to end abortion, the most visible component is the peaceful prayer vigil outside the local abortion facility. You can help make a life-saving impact by joining our local vigil at:Family Planning Associates

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

To God the Father, Creator of all races and peoples, who loves each of us for our uniqueness, we offer our prayers of petition:For an end to discrimination in all its forms, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.That each person may be respected and valued as a child of God, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.That the Church may be a witness and a universal sign of unity among all peoples, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.That each of us may acknowledge our part in mistakes and sins of the past pertaining to discrimination and racism, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.For a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation among peoples who share a history of mutual mistrust, hatred or aggression, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.That the victims of racial prejudice may forgive those who persecute them, and that their persecutors may have a change of heart, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.That the Church will continue to strive to make every element of human life correspond to the true dignity of the human person, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.For those who have struggled in the past and continue to do so today for civil rights, economic justice and the elimination of discrimination based on race, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.For the conversion of the hearts and minds of those who allow another's race to influence their relationships and limit their openness, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.That we may work to influence the attitudes of others by expressly rejecting racial stereotypes, slurs and jokes and be affirming of the cultural contributions of every racial group in our world, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.That we may make a personal commitment to abolish social structures which inhibit economic, educational and social advancement of the poor, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.That we may work for decent working conditions, adequate income, housing, education and health care for all people, we pray ... Lord of all nations, hear our prayer.

Almighty God, source of our life, we acknowledge you as Creator of all people of every race, language and way of life. Help us to see each other as you see us: your sons and daughters loved into being and sustained by your parental care. Keep watch over our hearts so that the evil of racism will find no home with us. Direct our spirits to work for justice and peace so that all barriers to your grace which oppress our brothers and sisters will be removed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Let us fight to erradicate from the face of the earth the 27 million men, women and children that continue to be oppressed by the scourge of slavery. Educate yourself and see how you can help to free these our brothers and sisters.Please check this link, Slavery 101http://www.freetheslaves.net/Page.aspx?pid=348

St. Peter Claver (1580-1654) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary to Latin America. He is known as the "Apostle of the West Indies" and the "Slave to the Slaves."Peter Claver was born in Verdu, Catalonia, on July 26, 1580, of prosperous parents. Little is known of his early years. In 1602 he entered the Society of Jesus. Three years later he began to study with Alphonsus Rodriquez in Majorca, with whom he shared a spiritual model of life focused on "suffering with Christ," which he would try to emulate for the rest of his life.Haunted by a vision of going where he was really needed, Claver left his theological studies before completion and in 1610 went to Cartagena, New Granada (now Colombia). "Why stay in Europe," he asked, "when there are so many men of God needed in America?" He finished his Jesuit requirements and was ordained a priest in 1616 in Bogotá at the age of 35. In his profession he stipulated that he would "never admit any inferiority in the Negro slaves," and so that there would be no doubt of this, he proclaimed himself their slave, adding to his signature ethiopium semper servus (slave of the Negroes forever). One of his biographers states that "there have been few saints so specialized."For the remaining 38 years of his life, Claver lived in Cartagena, one of the major Caribbean ports in Latin America to which slaves were imported. He had no social program but simply geared his life to the primary needs of the often sick and broken slaves who arrived on American shores. He was not a "revolutionary" priest, intent on changing the fabric of society; he simply cared for the slaves and exhorted the slave masters to be humane.Claver made himself available to the black slaves. He met them at the port of the city, inquired about their Christian state, catechized those who had had no instruction before crossing the Atlantic, and allegedly baptized more than 300,000. After baptism he tried to nurture his "children," visiting the plantations and mines where the slaves were employed. In accordance with Pauline maxims, he urged slaves to be obedient but exhorted slave masters to be generous. In order to humanize these people hardly regarded as humans, he visited prisoners, nursed lepers and the sick, and worked for the release of some. He often protected fugitive slaves while seeking out good masters for them.In 1650 Peter Claver became a victim of the plague and lived the rest of his life in almost complete solitude, dying on Sept. 8, 1654. The city magistrates, who had previously frowned at his constant solicitations on behalf of the slaves, ordered that he should be buried at public expense and with great pomp. Only after his death did people begin to realize the true scope of his activities; and the astronomical number of persons he had single handedly baptized. He was canonized in 1887, and Pope Leo XIII declared him the worldwide patron of missionary work among black slaves. St. Alphonsus Rodriguez was canonized on the same day as Peter Claver.His bones were moved to a glass coffin under the altar of Cartagena's Cathedral de San Pedro Claver, where Pope John Paul II prayed during his 1986 visit. In the cloister adjoining the Cathedral, the room where he spent the last years of his life is open to visitors, along with a series of graphic paintings telling the story of how he helped the slaves.

Quote: Peter Claver understood that concrete service like the distributing of medicine, food or brandy to his black brothers and sisters could be as effective a communication of the word of God as mere verbal preaching. As Peter Claver often said, "We must speak to them with our hands before we try to speak to them with our lips."

Monday, September 7, 2009

NOVENA TO VEN. FR. LANTERI(Founder of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary) in preparation for the celebration of the titular Feast of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary on September 12, feast of the HOLY NAME OF MARY.

O Father, fountain of all life and holiness You gave Fr. Pio Bruno Lanteri great faith in Christ, your Son, a lively hope, and an active love for the salvation of his brethren. You made him a prophet of your Word and a witness to Your Mercy. He had a tender love for Mary and by his very life he taught fidelity to the Church. Father, hear the prayer of Your family and through the intercession of Fr. Lanteri, grant us the grace for which we now ask…

May he be glorified on earth that we may give greater praise. We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.